Snippets from The Afterlife
by fullscaleninja
Summary: The SSS is known for its misleadingly-named operations, over-the-top weapons, and eccentric members, at least from Otonashi's view. But when they're off the clock, he can tell they're actually...well, not too different from normal high schoolers. Includes a couple pairings if that's your cup of tea. Rated T for big-kid language.
1. Left Open

**Time:** after episode 2, before episode 5

**Characters:** Otonashi, Yuri

* * *

The night was quiet. It was late and everyone was heading back to their respective dorms after another successful Operation Tornado. With his stomach filled and mood lightened, Otonashi made his way to the principal's office, humming a tune from Girldemo's concert. He twirled his gun in his hand as he walked, flipping it this way and that without a conscious thought. The last operation had left him short on bullets; he hoped Yuri would have some to spare, and since he didn't know where else to find her other than their headquarters, he had come here instead of the girls' dorms.

"There is no God, Buddha, or Angel," Otonashi muttered as he reached for the door. A second later he heard the metallic _clang!_ of a trap door sliding open and he let out a shout as a gigantic hammer began swinging towards his face. Caught off guard but somewhat prepared for this scenario, he pressed himself against the wall and crouched down, narrowly avoiding the brutal pendulum and the surefire death it brought along with it. He sat frozen until the thing stopped swinging.

"Damn it!" he shouted as he pulled himself to his feet. "I told you the stupid password!" he complained to the motionless hammer. He grabbed the doorknob and prepared to storm in and report the malfunctioning trap—and its idiotic creator—to Yuri.

Locked?

He tried the door again, keeping a weary eye on the hammer in case it decided to jump off its track and pummel him for being an incompetent moron. This was the only safe place in the school. Why was it locked?

_"Yurippe usually locks the place up at night. She's paranoid about Angel or even the teachers breaking in and reclaiming it."_

Otonashi scowled as he recalled Hinata's words. _Man, she's a stubborn leader_. What with the giant dysfunctional hammer and all, there was no way any kind of NPC would even try to approach this area. Angel…was admittedly a valid threat, but come on. The Battlefront took her on every day. It couldn't be that hard to chase away such a tiny girl from such a useless office.

He sighed and knocked twice on the door. "Yuri? You in there?"

No answer.

"All right, no one's home," he said, crouching down to the keyhole. "Which means it's time to pick the lock!" He pulled out a couple of paperclips and bent them as he remembered Hinata doing when they broke into Angel's dorm. It took a while, but then with a jiggle and a near-silent pop, the lock sprang open. "Aha," he smiled. With one last look at the giant hammer, Otonashi slid into the room and closed the door.

The room was almost completely dark. The only light came from a laptop sitting on the principal's desk, facing him. A little icon of the SSS spun in the center of the screen, the words "briefing manager" under it in thin print. The place looked a lot bigger with the absence of the usual members, and it took Otonashi a good minute before he noticed the dark shape on one of the couches. He gave a start at the sudden presence.

"Yu…Yuri?" he asked tentatively. There was no response. He crept closer, tiptoeing around the table and towards the couch. It was definitely her, all right. And she was fast asleep. She was still in full uniform with her hat perched at an awkward angle. One gun was clutched loosely in her hand while the other rested on her stomach, rising and falling with her even breathing.

"S-she sleeps with her guns, huh?" Otonashi muttered to himself, edging away. "That's a step up from a knife under the pillow, but I guess it fits her style." He looked around the room for possible ammo-storage areas. There really wasn't much to search; the only things that didn't fit in with the principal's-office-décor were the multiple closed laptops on either side of the main desk and the sleeping girl with dual guns. He crept over to the principal's desk and slid open a drawer.

He blinked. "This is…wow," was all he could say. The drawer was entirely filled with ammo of every kind, packed in like sardines with little to no organization. He opened another one to find the same thing, this one with a few grenades rolling around the bottom. He felt a muscle near his eye twitch. "Man, these guys take fighting seriously, don't they?"

The bottom right drawer had the correct ammo for his gun, and he took an extra set in case of an emergency. He slid the magazine into his gun and pocketed it, feeling satisfied with his snooping. He snuck back around the desk and prepared to exit.

Without warning the gun slipped from Yuri's grip and thunked to the floor, making him jump a foot into the air. With his blood pounding in his ears, Otonashi slowly turned around. _Is she_…_awake?_

No. She was still sleeping.

Breathing out a deep sigh of relief, he relaxed his shoulders and rubbed his temples. He walked back over to Yuri, picked up the gun she had dropped, and placed it on the table. For a good measure, he took the other one off her stomach and put it with its partner. She didn't move an inch. Her mouth was set in a scowl and her eyes were shut a little too tight for it to be relaxing.

Otonashi bent down to her level and watched her for a moment. "You can't even loosen up in your sleep, can you?" he asked rhetorically. He took the white beret off her head and put it next to the guns. With some difficulty, he carefully pulled off her shoes and lined them up next to the couch. And finally, he shrugged out of his uniform jacket and draped it across her body like a blanket. "Wouldn't want to catch a cold, would you, O fearless leader?" he laughed, rising slowly. He gave the room and its only occupant one last look before closing the door.

The night was a little chilly when he stepped outside, but Otonashi had never felt better. He stretched his arms and yawned as he walked back to his dorm, wondering what kind of crazy plan was in store for the Battlefront tomorrow.


	2. Selfless Fulfillment

**Time:** during episode 10

**Characters:** Otonashi, Hinata, Yui

* * *

It had been another long day. The sun had set behind the trees and the clouds overhead started to turn pink at the edges. Otonashi grit his teeth as he threw another pitch, ignoring the ache in his shoulder and arm. The batter, with her pink hair spilling out of her helmet, swung with a defiant shout but missed completely. He looked up to see a streetlight flickering on. He sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It's gotten dark enough, we can't see the ball," he observed, "We'll continue tomorrow!"

Yui let out a whine of despair just as she had yesterday, but she didn't argue. She trudged off the field with a dejected air, dropping her bat on the way. Otonashi watched her go, rolling his shoulder to ease some of the cramping pain that had started to build up from the past couple days. His neck was admittedly still sore from that German Suplex and its numerous failed attempts, and he wondered briefly if a permanently damaged neck would stay that way until he re-died and came back to life. He bent to pick up the stray balls scattered around the field, noticing with some disappointment that only a few of them made it to the outfield.

_And she wants to hit a homerun? How long is this going to take?_

He dumped an armful of baseballs back into the bin and sighed again with exhaustion.

"What are you two up to?" came a call.

He turned at the voice to see Hinata standing at home plate with the bat in hand. "Hey," he greeted, testing the bat out with a swing.

Otonashi smiled and avoided the question. "So you wanna play?" he asked, raising a ball, "Some _real_ baseball?" He was tired, yes, but after going easy on Yui and keeping up with her ridiculous wishes, he felt up to a challenge. Hinata was a star baseball player; if there was anyone in the SSS who could take a hit, both literally and figuratively, it was him.

The bat whooshed through the air as Hinata took light practice swings. He looked professional while doing it, unlike the miniature pink-haired devil that had stood in his place moments before. "A full swing, huh? I haven't done that in ages," he said, stretching out his arm. "That might be kind of fun." He took a stance.

"Let's have at it, bigshot," Otonashi said with a smile, launching a pitch faster than he would have dared with Yui. But Hinata was no amateur. With a grunt and a fierce swing, he hit the pitch right on, sending the ball flying into the outfield with a clean, metallic ring that echoed in the air. He threw another fastball and watched as it flew back over his head and into the grass behind him.

"It's a change, isn't it?" Hinata asked, bracing for the next pitch. "Getting hits that go so far? I bet Yui didn't get much past the infield." He hit another one to Otonashi's right. It hit the fence and bounced back into the field. "What's she making you do anyway?"

"It was my idea, partially," Otonashi admitted, throwing another pitch. "She wants to hit a homerun."

Hinata loosened his hold on the bat and laughed. "A homerun? That tiny thing? Oh, man, that is rich." He cracked his neck before stepping back into the batter's box. "She was no good during the ball tournament, and I doubt she improved much."

"Come on, give her a break," Otonashi said with a smile. "She's trying her hardest."

"Which brings me back to my first question," Hinata grunted as he hit a ground ball to third. "What are you two up to? Or to rephrase, what are _you_ up to?"

Otonashi felt his face melt into a grimace. He didn't want to lie to his friend, but he wasn't too keen on revealing his plans yet. Everyone was bound to suspect something if he managed to make Yui disappear; he didn't want to deal with trouble so early on in his mission.

"She told me about her past," he shrugged, tossing a ball from one hand to the other. "She was paralyzed and couldn't move most of her life. Can you imagine that, Hinata? A girl with that much energy like Yui stuck in a body that can't move?"

"So you're telling me this is some pity play?" Hinata asked, resting the tip of the bat on the ground. "That you're just sticking around because you feel bad for her?"

"N-no…well when you say it like that," Otonashi said with a humorless laugh. "I just want her to enjoy what she couldn't when she was a live, that's all. What…why do you care? You're always just treating her like a nuisance anyway!"

Hinata smiled softly and raised the bat to his shoulder. "I guess you're right." He hit a pop fly to centerfield and frowned. "Paralyzed, huh? That sure explains the constant enthusiasm. She's making up for all those days she spent motionless, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Just like Iwasawa and her singing. Everyone here just wants to do the things they wanted to do before they died, you know?" Otonashi stopped talking and cursed his slip-up. Why the hell did he say that? He had more or less stated his intentions loud and clear.

But Hinata laughed easily and took a practice swing. "Man, Otonashi, you sound like Angel. Well, more like a fun-sided Angel. She tries to force us to make up the school portions of our stolen youth whereas _you_ help us make up the school activity portions." He shot a sparkly grin at his friend. "You two should form a team or something."

Otonashi forced a wild laugh that sounded fake even to his own ears. He threw a drunken pitch that rocketed towards Hinata's head.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing!" he complained, barely ducking in time.

"S-sorry man! I guess I'm kind of tired…"

Hinata melted out of his anger and scratched his head. "I think we should call it a day, then huh?" He joined Otonashi and helped pick up the baseballs. "Are you seriously going to keep this up until that little shrimp hits a homerun?"

"I suppose so, yeah. I mean, I should finish what I started, right?" Otonashi shrugged.

"Heh. You really are the dedicated type, Otonashi. If I were you I would've skipped out on that bratty, pink-haired pipsqueak ages ago."

They started making their way back to the gym storage, Otonashi rolling the bin of baseballs and Hinata carrying the bat against his shoulder. The walk was mostly silent, save for the wheels crunching along the ground and Hinata's idle humming. The sky was completely dark now, the streetlights serving as their only guide to the school building. Otonashi glanced at Hinata as he walked, watching his carefree smile and easygoing posture.

"Hey, Hinata. Would you…would you really give up on Yui? If you were in my position, would you really have skipped out on her, even if it meant that she'd have to give up her dreams…again?"

"Wha-…man, are we still talking about this?" he replied incredulously.

"Just answer the question," Otonashi said impatiently.

Hinata visibly struggled to answer. "I-I don't know! She's just so freakin' annoying I don't think I could stand her as long as you did. I'd probably stop trying after she has one of her fits!" He swung wildly with the bat as if he were battering an imaginary Yui to the ground. But he stopped walking and lowered the bat to his side, his eyes downcast.

Otonashi stopped too. "You okay?" he asked.

"I guess that's not entirely true though." Hinata said, smiling somewhat bitterly. "I hate to be the one to say this, but I think if Yui and I met somewhere else…before we died, I think we…we would've been good friends. Don't get me wrong, she's irritating as hell, but there's something fun about her, you know? I think we could've really connected if we met in a different environment."

"Even if she was paralyzed?"

"Yeah. Even so. Or actually, even _more_ so, since she can't hit me that way," he joked. "But that's what they teach us, right? To see people beyond their physical limits? It'd be pretty shallow of me to give up on her because she's a handicap. And…I guess it's shallow for me to give up on her here, too."

Otonashi clapped a hand to Hinata's shoulder. "I think you just said something pretty deep there," he laughed.

"Huh, I guess I did." He chuckled and gripped Otonashi's arm. "Thanks, buddy."

Otonashi backed away with mock shivers. "You comin' on to me?"

"Hell no!" Hinata shouted, pushing him away. "And don't you even think about telling any of this to Yui, got it?"

"All right, all right. Calm yourself."

The two shared a good laugh and started their journey back to the campus once again.


	3. Irony in Names

**Time:** during episode 3...kind of an alternate scene if you will

**Characters:** Otonashi, Iwasawa, Girldemo

* * *

Otonashi found himself at the vending machines yet again. It seemed like his whole existence here revolved around buying more Key Coffee rather than fighting against the angel-like student body president. He probably went through five cans a day, maybe more on the stressful days when Yuri executes her unusually cruel penalty games. Today alone he had gone through four cans to use for target practice, and just now he had spilled most of his drink on the floor while talking and grappling with the eccentric Yui. It was a bit embarrassing, really. This was his second time at the vending machines within the last ten minutes.

He straightened as he retrieved his drink and flipped the tab to open the can. Amidst the sound of the popping tab, Otonashi heard a soft voice drifting through the air from somewhere in the distance, accompanied by a smooth guitar riff and fierce drums. He looked up at the school building to his right, idly wondering where exactly the music is coming from. He took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the cold but rich taste that filled his mouth.

_I wonder if I can disappear from buying this drink so much_, he thought to himself as he started walking. _Imagine the look on Yuri's face when she realizes Angel obliterated me for enjoying this coffee like a regular student_.

He snapped out of his thoughts to see that he had walked into the school building and was in the process of climbing upstairs.

"Wait…when did I…?"

He blinked. The hallways were completely deserted. Given that Yuri forbids them from attending classes, he wasn't sure if school was in session or not. But he noticed that the music he heard earlier was much closer now. He climbed the rest of the way up to the second floor, internally debating whether it was the coffee or the music that had unconsciously led him here. Every classroom looked the same, every door identical to the next.

Otonashi stepped out to the balcony that ran along the outside of the classrooms. Down below by the steps, he saw dozens of NPCs milling around and even more running around on the field. There was a couple more talking to a teacher inside a mostly empty classroom he passed, and he guessed that school was indeed over. The music was loud and clear now, and when he peered into the next classroom, Otonashi found its source.

He had never seen Girldemo perform; sure he heard some their songs before, but it was always far off in the cafeteria, constantly interrupted by gunfire and shouting. Watching up close, he saw why this girl band was so popular within these simple-minded NPCs.

The drummer and the bassist—girls Otonashi was not yet introduced to—looked too cute and innocent to be playing in a rock band. The lead guitarist, also unknown to him, played her instrument with a sly smile, fingers moving around the strings with expert precision. And the vocalist with the rhythm guitar, Iwasawa, led the group with a passion that could light up the sky. They all swayed with the music, getting into the beat as the song winded down. The purple-haired drummer, despite her Yui-like cuteness, rocked the drums with blazing spirit.

Otonashi watched as they finished up the song, leaning against the wall so none of them could see him standing outside the window. It wasn't that he wanted to spy on them; he just wanted to hear another song. Even with the last few seconds he heard, he was entranced. But he was afraid that if he said hello, his presence would disrupt their musical flow.

The next words sent his shoulders sagging.

"So how about some lunch?" someone suggested.

"Phew, yeah! We've been practicing and writing since the meeting, haven't we?" said a much brighter voice.

Otonashi heard the sound of instruments being put down. He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, a little disappointed that he missed their practice. Yuri probably wouldn't let him off the outside guard duty to listen in on the concerts they used as a diversion, but it seemed like a shame to miss hearing such a talented group perform.

"Iwasawa? Are you coming?" A different voice drifted from the window, this one much more gentle than the others.

"You guys go ahead. I'll meet you there," a cool voice replied, and Otonashi recognized it as Iwasawa's.

The excited chatter and laughter left the classroom and receded down the hallway until there was complete silence. Otonashi sat in his spot beneath the windows, sipping his coffee and wondering if he should also be preparing for the big operation everyone was pumped about. Just when he was about to get up and go practice his shooting some more, he heard a near-inaudible strum of a guitar chord. The sound was much richer than the distorted screech of an electrical guitar, and Otonashi slowly stood to peer into the window.

Iwasawa sat on top of a desk with her back partially to him, playing the introduction to the tune he had heard earlier today at the SSS meeting. He listened as she began to sing in a clear, melodic voice:

"_Iradachi o doko ni butsukeru ka sagashiteru aida ni owaru hi__  
sora wa haiiro o shite sono saki wa nanimo mienai__  
joushiki butteru yatsu ga waratteru tsugi wa donna uso o iu?__  
sore de erareta mono daiji ni kazatteokeru no?__  
demo asu e to susumanakya naranai__  
dakara kou utau yo…"_

Otonashi stood captivated as the lyrics washed over him. The melody got more intense as she moved to the chorus, and her voice filled with so much power and emotion that it sent chills down his back. He listened with rapt attention to the rest of the song, unable to peel himself away from the wall. When the song finished with an ending chord, he wanted it to keep going, almost like dreading the ending to a good story. He listened to the empty silence in the classroom, and with slow deliberation, shrugged himself off the wall and applauded softly.

Iwasawa turned with alarm at the sudden sound.

"Oh, it's you," she said with surprise. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Uh, since the others left for lunch," he confessed sheepishly. "I wanted to catch you guys practicing but everyone left and then you…" he trailed off.

She gave him a swift smile. "I see." The guitar made a hollow sound as she placed it carefully on its stand. "So you were the first to hear the new song, huh?"

"Yeah it was…a beautiful one," Otonashi complimented, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can see why all the regular students admire you guys. Even I was mesmerized. But…that was the song that Yuri made you trash, right?"

"Right," Iwasawa said. She doesn't sound upset about it, but her eyes were downcast.

"You're okay with that?" he asked, leaning against the windowsill. "I mean, isn't it in a musician's pride somewhere to stick with a song no matter what? I'm sure with lyrics that good you could—"

"I wish it were that easy," Iwasawa said, politely cutting him off. "But Yuri's the leader. I don't want to mess with her orders over a song that the diversion unit doesn't need."

Otonashi studied her expression. "But…don't _you_ need it?" he asked tentatively.

Iwasawa paused while taking a sip of water. With the look she gives him, Otonashi thought she was going to scoff or brush him off. But instead, she did something that surprised him: she laughed.

"You're not too far off the mark there, Mr. Newbie," she said with a wide smile.

"It's Otonashi," he said glumly.

"I know." She slid open the door to the balcony and joined him outside. "But that name is too ironic for someone like me to accept**."

"You do have a point there," he chuckled. He crossed the balcony to lean over the railing, observing the NPCs go about their after school activities. Iwasawa sat down next to him on the floor, breathing out a deep sigh as her back hit the railing. They stayed in silence for a moment, Iwasawa occasionally sipping her water and Otonashi watching the activity on the field.

"You know, you should sing it anyway," he said suddenly, breaking the peace and quiet.

"Hmm?"

"That song. You should sing it anyway."

She looked at the ground and frowned. "You heard what Yuri said. You guys won't be able to wreak your usual havoc if we were performing some love song on stage."

"But it's not just some love song, it's more than that, isn't it?" he pressed. "It has a bit of you in it, know what I mean? It's like…_your_ song."

"My song, huh?" she muttered with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, it speaks in a different volume than a rock song. The lyrics…they just sound like it came from your soul. It really captures you."

"And what do you know about me?"

It wasn't a challenge. She said it plain and simple, as if she were asking how he knew the story of a book he's never opened. There was no accusation in her voice; she wanted to know what he knew about her. Nothing more.

Unfortunately he had no answer. He forced a laugh and scratched his chin. "I guess you got me there. I don't really have the right to judge others since I don't even know what kind of past _I _had."

"Oh that's right…you've lost your memories," she said, giving him a sideways glance.

"Pretty much."

"That's a blessing for you," she said with a smile.

He caught on those words and searched for the right question. "Are your memories also…uh…"

…_as unbearable as our leader's_? he wanted to ask.

"Did you hear about someone's memories?" she asked, filling in his unfinished inquiry.

"Yeah, Yuri's," he admitted.

"Yuri's, huh?" She shook her head in sympathy. "Hers are the worst. Mine aren't as bad as hers."

He turned to look at her "'Not as bad'?"

"It's nothing impressive," she chuckled, "I couldn't sing my beloved songs. That's all..."

* * *

**in case you didn't know, Otonashi literally translated means "no sound"

Oto - sound

Nashi - no/not/gone/etc.


	4. Charms of an Idiot

**Time: **anytime before episode 5

**Characters:** Otonashi, Noda, Angel, Yuri, Hinata

* * *

It was a beautiful, sunny day. There wasn't a cloud in sight, the sky was a rich blue, and the grass looked especially green under the unwavering sunlight. Otonashi ditched his uniform jacket and stretched as he walked, enjoying the warm sun on his back and taking in the flawless weather. School had just ended and the NPCs were filtering out of their classes, heading to the dorms, to the library, or to their respective club activities. He listened to their idle chatter, picking up mundane conversations and excited rumors.

_This really is like a normal high school,_ he thought, smiling to himself. _It's a shame I can't join in and live an ordinary life with them_.

He arrived at the vending machines and bought himself some Key Coffee to compliment the stunning weather. He would take this drink—maybe a snack to go along with it—find a shady tree to sit under, and enjoy the day until Yuri calls for another meeting. It would be a nice, relaxing time, all by himse—

Something whooshed over his head as Otonashi bent to pick up his coffee. He heard a cracking sound of impact inches from his feet and slowly turned towards the projectile.

It was a halberd.

A freaking _halberd_, sticking up from the concrete with its handle swaying a little from the force of the impact. And there was only one idiot in this world that carried something like that around.

"Goddamnit, I missed!"

He turned to see Noda punching the air with frustration, all the way up on the second floor balcony of the school building on his left. As Otonashi watched, the hotheaded axe-wielder jumped over the railing of the balcony and landed on the grass below. He stomped over, pushed past Otonashi, and yanked his halberd out of the ground.

"Heh, I finally caught you, punk," he said, leveling the weapon with ease.

Otonashi backed away instinctively. "Whoa, hold up a minute. I-I don't want trouble!"

"Well you got it, wimp. This'll teach you not to mess with Yurippe," Noda growled.

"That was ages ago! You're still going on about it?" He looked around for some kind of help, but none of the SSS were around and the NPCs were no help whatsoever.

"An insult to Yurippe doesn't fade over time. Prepare to die…one _thousand_ times!"

"Geez, you really _are_ a moron," Otonashi muttered.

"The hell'd you say, punk?" Noda snarled, advancing with his weapon.

He braced himself for the pain that was inevitably on its way and squeezed his eyes shut as the halberd swung towards his head. He heard the swish of the blade cutting through the air and then…an ear-splitting metallic _clang!_

His eyes flew open with surprise. Instead of the angry Noda, he saw the silvery hair of the student body president before him, flowing gently in the air and settling as she stopped moving. Both blades on her arms were out, one of them deflecting Noda's blow and the other pointing towards his chest. Even with her back to him, Otonashi could hear her soft-spoken warning.

"Students are not permitted to fight on school grounds. Nor are they allowed to possess weapons of any kind." She twirled expertly and cut cleanly through the shaft of the halberd, leaving Noda with maybe a foot of the handle. The rest of the weapon clattered to the ground.

Noda reached for his gun. "You b—"

Angel pressed the blade to his neck and cut off his insult. He stumbled backwards and fell on his back, Angel following him down and pulling back her arm to deliver a deathblow. Otonashi saw the brief fear in his eyes, the momentary terror of death that flashed across his face. Before the president could decapitate him, Otonashi sprang forward and got in between the two.

"Wait, wait! We weren't fighting!" he screamed, pushing down her bladed arm and nudging Noda out of the way. "We were…just seeing if Noda is as good as he thinks he is with the halberd. I bet him that he couldn't cut off the button on my shirt without slicing me open. That's all!" he invented wildly.

"That is a dangerous and ridiculous wager," Angel observed without emotion.

"Y-yeah, how stupid of me," he said, forcing a laugh. "Lesson learned. B-but we weren't fighting. And you said yourself that no weapons are allowed, right?" Otonashi gave a pointed look at the blades sticking out of her sleeves.

She looked down as though seeing them as weapons for the first time. "I suppose you are right," she said, and they disappeared in a flash of light. Without another word, she started to walk away.

They watched her go, Noda rubbing his neck and Otonashi sighing in relief.

"You okay?" Otonashi asked, extending a hand. Noda glares at it before standing on his own. He tosses the useless piece of metal on the ground with the rest of his halberd and begins walking in the opposite direction. Something slips free from his jacket pocket as he goes, floating through the air to land at Otonashi's feet. He picked it up and turned it over.

It was…a photo of a girl. She had medium-length purple hair with a black headband and wore the designated SSS uniform, its logo clearly visible on the sleeve. She was looking out into the distance with her hand cradling her chin, leaning an elbow against some kind of railing. It was a beautiful picture, yet it was also incredibly lonely.

And it was unmistakably of Yuri.

"Uh…Noda? You dropped something."

"Shut it, punk. I can't fight with a piece of garbage like that," he growled, referring to his dismantled weapon. "You really are a jinx, newbie."

"No, I didn't mean that," Otonashi said, waving the photo at his retreating back. "This is yours, right?"

Noda turned with a murderous look and saw the picture flapping in his enemy's hand. In an instant his glare melted off his face to be replaced with a schoolboy blush. Otonashi watched with a bemused expression as Noda's face turned scarlet. He covered the pace between them in two angry strides and snatched the photo from Otonashi's hand. Almost unconsciously, he whipped out a gun and pointed it at the puzzled Otonashi.

"T-t-t-that was nothing, got it? Y-y-yo-you didn't see a thing!" he stuttered, shaking his head wildly.

"That's a picture of Yuri, right?" Otonashi asked. He shut his mouth when Noda shoved the gun closer. With his hand shaking that badly, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to accidentally fire.

"I-I said you didn't see a thing, you idiot!" he yelled, his blush spreading to his ears.

"All right, all right, calm down! Geez Noda, if you keep acting like such an asshole, Yuri's never going to return your feelings!"

Something shifted in Noda's expression. Otonashi braced himself for the worst and wished Angel would return to slice up the gun pointed at his face. But to his amazement, Noda moved his gaze to the ground and lowered the gun. He stuffed it back into his pocket but put away the photo with more care.

"T-then what should I do t-to have her notice me?" he mumbled.

Otonashi blinked. "Are you…asking me for advice?"

"I'm asking you what I should do!" Noda spat, reaching for his gun again.

"Whoa, whoa okay I get it! I'll help you if you don't shoot me!" he reasoned, raising his hands.

Noda sniffed and relaxed. "Fine."

"Well…did you try asking her out?" Otonashi started.

"Why the hell would I do that? There's nowhere to take her!"

_He really is a moron_.

"What about being nice to her? Treat her with respect and all that jazz?"

"Fool. She's the _only_ one I respect around here. I execute her orders and cut down anything in her path. Isn't that enough?"

_Can he get any stupider?_

"Okay, uh…how about flowers?"

The former axe-bearer laughed with contempt. "Like she could use those in a fight."

Otonashi pinched the bridge of his nose. _He's hopeless_.

"Look. Why don't you stop treating her like a fearless warrior and see her as a normal girl? Yuri is more than just our leader, Noda. She's a human being with normal, girly feelings."

"Are you insulting her?" he snarled.

"No, I'm saying that she's like any other girl—"

"Yurippe isn't just any other girl, you scum!"

Otonashi felt like his patience was slowly slipping off a cliff. A nerve was twitching near his eye and suddenly he wished Noda had shot him instead.

"You…fine." Otonashi marched past Noda and motioned for him to follow. He didn't really expect him to, but he kept walking without breaking stride.

They arrived at the opposite end of the campus where the greenhouses were located. In front of them was a sectioned garden filled with blooming flowers of every shape and color. They flourished under the bright sunshine, giving an ironic feel of life in this world of the afterlife.

"Here," Otonashi said, gesturing to all the flowers. "Since you obviously know Yuri the best, pick out the flowers that she would like the most."

"What?" Noda exclaimed, reaching for his halberd to point at Otonashi before remembering he no longer had it. "I told you Yurippe wouldn't need something like—"

"Just _do it!_" he yelled, surprising the both of them.

"Fine," Noda grumbled, walking up to the flowerbed.

It was quite a sight to behold. Otonashi watched with some inner amusement as the hardheaded Noda began picking bright and frilly flowers, taking extra care not to damage the petals. Although his mouth was set in his usual scowl, there was a soft light in his eyes that Otonashi only saw when Yuri was around. _Maybe he really does feel something towards Yuri_, he thought as Noda gathered more flowers. _He has to, if he's degrading his tough image to collect flowers for her_.

"You done?" he called when the hothead straightened, looking lost. "Then let's get back to headquarters and give them to Yuri."

* * *

It took a lot to get Noda to the principal's office. He wasn't resisting, nor was he threatening to fill Otonashi with bullets. But he was deathly afraid.

"N-no wait, I change my mind," he said for the millionth time. "She wouldn't like them, they're useless. She'd kill me for wasting my time picking flowers."

"Would you _relax_?" Otonashi said with frustration, practically dragging him to the door. "You wanted help, and I'm giving it to you! Now just go—in—there—and give her the stupid flowers!" he seethed, punctuating his words with tugs on Noda's arm. He threw open the door after barking out the password and shoved Noda inside, stumbling in after him.

The meeting hadn't started yet. The only people present were Yuri and Hinata, and they looked like they were in the middle of an argument. They turned as Noda and Otonashi barged in, cutting off mid-sentence to take in the interruption. Noda froze as Yuri shot a deadly glare in their direction, and even Otonashi couldn't help but gulp.

"S-sorry. Are we interrupting something?" he asked tentatively.

Yuri sighed and shook her head, dismissing an enraged Hinata with a wave of her hand. "No, nothing important. This idiot here was pitching me ideas for renaming our Battlefront. And they were all stupid."

"They were _not_!" Hinata argued.

"So anyway, what's up with you two?" She regarded Noda with a raised eyebrow. "What are those flowers for, Noda?"

Otonashi glanced at the frozen Noda and nudged some life into him with his elbow. "Go give them to her, dumbass," he muttered, pushing him forward.

As if in a trance, Noda stepped forward, extended his arm, and shoved the flowers in Yuri's face. He stared hard at the floor in between his shoes. "T-th-th-they're f-for y-y-y-you," he said in his worst stutter ever. "S-so will you…please accept them and my feelings for you!"

The room rang with silence after his blurted confession. Hinata made a choking sound. Otonashi slapped a hand to his face. Yuri stared. And stared. Noda was once again frozen in his position, his trembling arm the only sign of life.

The sound that broke the silence was not a harsh rejection from their leader. It was her laughter. Yuri doubled over and clutched at her stomach, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. But it wasn't the mocking, evil laugh she sometimes let loose over successful operations; it was a genuine, happy laughter that made all three boys in the room blush.

"You…you picked these? For me?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Y-yeah," Noda said, blushing even deeper.

She whirled and glared daggers at Hinata. "Well, since you want to contribute to this Battlefront so much, how about you find me a vase and fill it with water?"

Hinata sniffed. "Where am I supposed to find a—"

"Just find one!" she roared, and Hinata raced out of the room, cowering in fear.

Yuri turned back to the nervous Noda. "You didn't have to do this for me, Noda," she said with a smile bright enough to compete with the sunshine outside. She took the flowers from his trembling fingers. "But thank you. They're beautiful."

He tensed as she stepped closer, but instead of hitting him like he expected, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. If anyone could pass out right then and there, it was Noda. But rather than collapsing, he turned a brilliant shade of crimson and raced out of the room. A second later they flinched as the hammer came flying out of the ceiling and smashed into Noda's face. His screams faded into the distance as he was blown out the window.

_What the hell kind of ending is that?_ Otonashi thought, sighing. _All that effort and a waste of a beautiful day, and he literally goes flying out the window_.

"Otonashi."

"Hm?" He turned from the window to find Yuri standing right behind him. "Whoa, wha—"

"Thanks…to you too," she said, avoiding eye contact. "I know Noda wasn't smart or level-headed enough to think of this. He doesn't see me as someone who would like this kind of stuff." She touched a hand to his shoulder and smiled. "So thank you. For seeing me as a girl."

Otonashi felt himself go red, and he coughed out an embarrassed laugh.

"It was…nothing, really."

Just then Hinata burst in, waving a glass vase in his hand. "Look! Look, I found one!"

"Where's the water, you idiot!" Yuri screamed, kicking him in the head.

Otonashi watched them argue, not joining in or stopping them but simply observing. He noted that Yuri had never let go of the flowers once she had taken them, and was carefully keeping them unharmed as she pummeled Hinata to the ground.

_Maybe…maybe it _was_ worth it_, he thought.


	5. Takes Two to Duet

A/N: There actually is a small reference to the Angel Beats 4-koma series, Bokura no Sensen Koushinkyoku, which you can find on mangafox or really any other manga reading site.

**Time:** before the end of episode 3

**Characters: **Otonashi, Hinata, Yui, Iwasawa

* * *

"Wait," Hinata said, cutting Otonashi off mid-conversation. "Do you hear that?"

They listened for a moment, taking in their surroundings. It was late afternoon and the two had been walking around the field, killing time until their next operation. The area was mostly quiet, with only a few straggling NPCs cleaning up after their club activities. Otonashi strained his ears and suddenly caught a harsh, screeching sound that resembled a wounded animal. He cringed as it tore through him, and Hinata did the same beside him. Even the handful of NPCs reacted to the sound, shivering and rubbing their ears.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Otonashi asked.

"Listen," Hinata replied, and although he didn't want to, Otonashi uncovered his ears to the awful sound. "I think it's a guitar."

"And is that…singing?" he questioned, glancing at his friend. "But it can't be Girldemo, they're setting up in the cafeteria, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah, that's definitely not Iwasawa's voice. And Hisako could play better than that with her feet." He shot Otonashi a smile. "Let's go check it out!"

"I…don't know. I don't think my ears can handle this sound."

"Come on, man! I wanna see who thinks they're good enough to compare to our Girldemo!"

Otonashi sighed. "Fine…"

* * *

"_YUI?_"

Hinata gaped at the tiny girl standing in front of the microphone. The classroom was empty except for her, but the electric guitar in her hands was set to such a loud volume that it sounded like an army of dying cats. She stopped her ferocious playing and singing at the sound of his voice and looked up with sunny elation.

"Oh, it's you two! Come here to praise my rockin' music? Or did you want my autograph?"

"What are you, stupid? You seriously think that garbage is music? That was so bad it made my ears bleed!" Hinata yelled, getting in Yui's face.

She growled and jabbed a finger into his chest. "How dare you insult my skills! I've been practicing for weeks and this is the criticism I get? I want to see you do better!"

"Trust me, even a preschooler could do better! Right Otonashi?"

Otonashi backed away to the corner of the classroom and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I don't really want to be pulled into this."

"See? At least he's on my side!"

"He just said he's on no one's side, you pink-haired moron!"

"Who're you callin' a moron?" Yui screeched, grabbing her much taller opponent by the collar of his shirt.

"Let go of me, pipsqueak! You're going to drop that guitar!"

"Oh, please. A true musician never lets go of her instrument, no matter what!"

Hinata sniffed. "What are you talking about? You can't even play the damned thing!"

Yui swelled with anger. "I can too! Watch!" She shoved Hinata away with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground on his rear end. She straps on her guitar, grips her pick tight, and sends her arm flying in a windmill to belt out the opening chord.

Otonashi had to admit; she wasn't half bad. She wasn't an expert like Hisako and didn't have a steady rhythm like Iwasawa, but she had the spirit to make up for it. Her fingers fumbled more than once, staggering through difficult chords and riffs to create a jumbled sound that could somewhat pass as creative distortion. She smiled was full of determination and happiness, and Otonashi could tell she wasn't just playing to impress them; she wanted to live up to her idol band and their legendary music.

"That's actually pretty good," he found himself saying. Hinata made a sound of disbelief and gave him a look of betrayal.

Yui jumped up and down with joy. "I _told_ you he was on my side!" she grinned at Hinata.

Otonashi stepped in between them before Hinata could make a heated retort. "Then why don't you just concentrate on improving your guitar playing? No offence, but your singing isn't the best around…"

"Now, now. Don't be so simple-minded," the girl scolded, swinging the guitar onto her back and picking up the microphone. She took a deep breath, tapped out a beat with her foot, and began to sing:

_"Haigo ni wa shattaa no kabe__  
yubisaki wa tetsu no nioi__  
susume hajike dono michi komu desho"_

Granted, she couldn't compare to Iwasawa's soothing voice, not by a long shot. But Yui had a different sort of charm to her singing; it was spunky and energetic, just like her personality. She brought life to the stoic, Iwasawa-like lyrics, turning them into a different kind of song.

"Hey, you sound great. You've got a good voice," Otonashi complimented. Yui beamed and spun in a gracious circle.

"So she's got a talent for both but it sounds horrible when combined," Hinata muttered under his breath.

"I guess her weakness is just multi-tasking," Otonashi agreed in a whisper.

They watched as Yui pranced around the room, belting out random lyrics and strumming off-key chords on the guitar. Without any spoken words, they both agreed that she would never really fit in with a rock group like Girldemo.

"Hey wait, shouldn't you be…helping the band set up?" Otonashi pointed out. Yui skid to a stop and stared at him. "Aren't you like the designated groupie?"

"Oh my gosh, you're absolutely right!" She ripped off the guitar, placed it with exaggerated care on its stand, and raced out the door, but not before giving Hinata a roundhouse kick in the back.

"What the hell!" he yelled as she slammed the door shut and raced down the hallway. "That damn midget…"

A second later, the door slid open again, and Hinata jumped to his feet, roaring with fury. He whipped out his handgun and pointed it at the door.

"If you hit me again, I'll blow your tiny head off—!"

He froze mid-sentence, face twitching, his gun pointed at Iwasawa's expressionless face. He struggled to say something, maybe an apology, but he simply fell to his knees and pitched forward onto the floor.

Iwasawa blinked. "Did I do something wrong?"

Hinata shook his head against the floor.

Otonashi stepped up. "Iwasawa? What are you doing here?"

She looked around the classroom. "We heard an awful sound coming from here. Hisako thought someone was messing with the instruments, so I came here to check."

"Oh, don't worry. It was just Yui," Hinata grumbled.

The concern cleared from her expression. "Yui, huh? At least she knows how to handle our equipment."

"'Handle' being a loose term," he sniffed.

"Come on, she's just a girl with a far-fetched dream. We were all like her once," Iwasawa said.

"I don't know…" Otonashi said, putting in his two cents. "I don't think she's that far off from her dream. She's not a bad guitarist and she's not a bad singer. It's just that when she tries to combine them, things go wrong."

"You hit the nail on the head there," she agreed.

"So you've seen her play before?"

Iwasawa nodded. "I gave a small performance with her once. She was trying to appeal to the NPCs like us, but she isn't much of an attraction. I went incognito and helped her out a bit since the crowd wasn't too supportive."

"Oh yeah!" Hinata recalled. "I tried to help her out with that too. Didn't you disguise yourself as a tree?"

She shrugged one shoulder.

"And didn't you fall over like a helpless turtle?"

"I forget the details," she said with a slight smile. "I like her though; she reminds me a bit of myself when I was starting out. Granted, I didn't have the nerve to blast my music through the school like she just did."

Otonashi thought for a minute and said, "You know, I think she'd really like it if you performed a duet with her."

Hinata stared. Iwasawa stared. Otonashi rubbed his neck and wondered if he should take those words back. _Well, it's true_, he thought. _Yui looks up to Iwasawa, and I can't blame her_._ Anyone would be happy to sing a duet with her idol_.

"Are you _freaking_ insane?" Hinata exclaimed, shooting up from the floor. "Did you not _hear_ her? Even _you _said before that you didn't want to come here because of that god-awful sound!"

"But he does have a point," Iwasawa said, examining her fingernails.

"You see? Even Iwasawa ag—" Hinata stopped. "_What?_"

"She's dedicated to the band, even after our constant rejection. I know she's not too great with the vocal-guitar combination, but I wouldn't mind singing a duet with her."

Hinata looked from Otonashi to Iwasawa with a scandalous expression, nonverbally deeming them insane.

"So you'd do it?" Otonashi asked, eyeing her smile.

"Call me crazy, but the more I think about it, the more I like it." She glanced at the guitar Yui had been playing on. "I've never really shared the mic with anyone, but the NPCs might like it. It's a new kind of flare."

"You serious about this?" Hinata groaned.

"Totally. It might be a little difficult to get the rest of the band to accept her, but if it's for one song, I won't mind."

Otonashi laughed. "You're going to make her really happy."

"I bet."

Hinata threw his hands into the air and stomped out of the room. "You're all just crazy!"

But that night, contrary to Hinata's disbelief, Otonashi thought he'd never seen such an enthusiastic audience at their concert. And he'd definitely never seen such a big smile on Yui's face.


	6. Interlude

A/N: Okay I lied, this one's not actually from the afterlife, nor is it about the SSS. But hey it _is_ an interlude.

* * *

It was an important night and the train was running late. _Why tonight of all nights?_ he thought as his foot tapped an impatiently on the floor. He wasn't the only one who seemed antsy; a sparse crowd had gathered at the edge of the platform to peer into the darkness for the telltale light of the train. Their dark muttering echoed his thoughts, complaining about tardiness and faulty train services. But none of them would understand _his_ impatience. He had to get home _now_.

"Igarashi."

A hand gripped his shoulder and he snapped out of his hazy frustration. He turned to see his friend and co-worker smiling at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I know you want to get home, but stomping your foot and whining isn't going to make the train magically appear," he said with a sympathetic look.

Igarashi frowned. "I know. Sorry, I must've zoned out a bit." He rubbed his head, trying to laugh it off. These days he wasn't always aware of little actions he took. More times than not he found himself performing irritating habits like drumming his fingers or, like now, tapping his foot. He always brushed it off as 'zoning out' whenever someone pointed it out, but he was sure it was something more than that.

"That head injury still screwing with your brain?" his friend laughed.

The look Igarashi gave him could've frozen the sun. "That's not funny," he growled.

His friend backed off. "O-oh. Sorry."

Igarashi returned his gaze to the empty tracks, staring hard at the rails and the loose stones that packed the ground. His friend Tanaka really wasn't a bad guy; for someone who didn't know his past, he stuck loyally to Igarashi through his reserved attitude and shifting moods. The two of them held jobs at the city hospital, Igarashi working as a doctor and Tanaka serving under him as assistant. They were a tag team of miracle workers—or so the hospital liked to brag—and they treated their patients with determined care and admirable effort.

He was known as a hero in that hospital.

But he didn't feel like one.

"Ah, there it is," Tanaka said, and his pointing finger entered Igarashi's field of vision. The train pulled in and the crowd rushed to enter, eager to make up for the lost time by speeding up the boarding process. "Watch it," he warned as Igarashi stumbled over the threshold.

"Y-yeah. Thanks."

Igarashi was not fond of trains. Not since that accident. He preferred to take the bus when he could, given that the train to the city takes a route underground. The chances of a cave-in like that happening again was slim at best, but he felt better not risking it. But tonight was special. He had to get home fast, and the buses at this time take forever to get to his stop. Gritting his teeth, Igarashi kept his eyes fixed on a cheerful toothpaste advertisement as the doors slid shut and the train began to move.

It had been six years since that awful train crash, but Igarashi still had reoccurring nightmares about it. It never focused on the darkness, the hunger, or the lack of hope he had faced in that tunnel; it was always about the cold, unmoving body of the selfless hero. Even now, he could recall the lifeless eyes of his short-time friend and the tight feeling in his chest that came with it. Sure, Igarashi may be a licensed doctor, but compared to Otonashi, he was no hero. He was just a simple man, given a second chance at life. A second chance he wished went to a certain student doctor instead of himself.

"Igarashi. Igarashi?"

Tanaka was shaking his shoulder and calling his name, sounding like he had been repeating it for some time. Igarashi blinked and looked up.

"Your stop is next, right?" Tanaka asked, pointing at the flashing screen by the door. Igarashi glanced at the station name while rubbing at his eyes, realizing that he was right. "Come on, buddy. Snap out of it. It's a big night for you, isn't it?"

Igarashi nodded, gripping the paper bag tighter in his hand. Tanaka was right. This was a big night. He shouldn't be thinking about the past, not now. That was then and this is now.

The doors slid open and Igarashi stepped out. He turned to see Tanaka lifting a hand in farewell. "Hey…sorry about earlier," Igarashi said. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Don't worry about it," Tanaka said with a smile. "See you tomorrow. Send my regards to the wife, all right?"

"Will do."

The doors slid shut and the train departed, leaving Igarashi alone on the platform. He watched it disappear into the night as if waiting for it to come across some kind of disastrous accident. _And what am I going to do if it does?_ he found himself asking. _Jump on the scene like Otonashi had and save everyone's lives? Sacrifice your own life so you can live up to your hero?_

He turned away from the tracks and headed off the platform. The night was silent and still; not a sound disturbed the warm spring air. The paper bag he held made little crinkling noises at every step as it bumped against his leg, creating a rhythm that more or less sent Igarashi into a monotonous trance.

His head gave a nasty twinge and he grimaced, rubbing circles into his temple. After the rescue, the doctors had informed him that he had a severe concussion from the crash, which progressed slowly over the week he went without medical attention. It was nothing too serious compared to some of the other survivors, but the occasional migraines he got was a persistent reminder of the events of that accident.

And it was more than just physical pain; the mental scarring he had taken from such a traumatizing situation and the survivor's guilt that had surfaced after Otonashi's confirmed death had plagued his mind with horrifying emotions that he had never dealt with.

_Useless_, his mind would constantly remind him, _useless_._ Otonashi did all of the work in that tunnel_, _you were just a sorry excuse of a support partner_._ You didn't even check on your precious hero to make sure _he_ didn't have any wounds, did you? And they call _you_ a hero? You couldn't save one life!_

He stopped at the gate in front of his house and stared at the nameplate fixed into the wall, which stated his last name. "Igarashi," he read aloud, touching a hand to the plate. "I wonder, my friend. If you had lived and I had died…would it be _your_ name here?" he asked as he traced the characters for 'Otonashi' over the engraved metal.

Life was unfair. Too unfair. Otonashi was so young, so full of potential. He was a brilliant, hard-working student for his age, inspiring even the most depressed people from their pessimistic thoughts and feeding hope to them until his last breath. No one in that tunnel deserved to die in such a horrible condition, especially Otonashi. He could have had a wonderful life. Met a girl. Fallen in love. Married. Had a kid. Raised a family. Grown old. He could've put his vast knowledge of medicine to tremendous use.

And yet he gave his life to us…to _him_. Igarashi smiled sadly. He was carrying a bit of his friend around him, living the life the fallen hero could never have. Now _he_ was the doctor, _he_ had the beautiful wife, and _he_ had a family.

_Is this right, buddy? Is this how you would've helped these people?_ _Is this the life you wanted?_

He hoped it was. He knew, from the moment they met, they connected not over the fact that they were survivors, but because they viewed the world in similar ways. Otonashi would appreciate the life Igarashi was living. He would praise it.

The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, and he heard the barking of a dog deep within the house. He opened the front door and pushed aside his excited dog as he attempted to bite at his shoes, laughing as he put his bag down.

"Daddy!"

There was a blur of color and suddenly his shoulders weighed a ton. With a shout of surprise mixed with laughter, he slipped off his shoes and picked up his daughter.

"Heya kid," he greeted, kissing her nose.

"You're home early!" she exclaimed, waving her hands around.

"You bet I am! And I brought you a little surprise…" He reached into the paper bag in his hand and pulled out a wrapped present. "Happy birthday, Misaki."

The happiness on her face all but melted Igarashi's heart. "A present? Thank you so much, Daddy!" She took the wrapped box and jumped up and down with joy before sprinting into the living room, screaming, "Mommy! Mommy look! Look what Daddy got me!"

He stepped into some slippers and threw his keys into a bowl as his wife came out to greet him, smiling softly.

"You actually made it," she said with a quiet laugh.

Igarashi shrugged. "A promise is a promise."

He felt a smile on his face—a real one, not forced or faked—and somehow sensed a brief connection with his friend. _Oh, yes_. _He would praise this life_._ He would praise _me_ for building it up from that damned tunnel accident_.

_I am not wasting this second chance_._ No way in hell_.


	7. A New Beginning

**Time:** during episode 7

**Characters:** Yuri, Otonashi, various SSS members

* * *

"I need some time alone."

The words rang in her ears even though they were spoken so softly. She kept on her nonchalant mask as she exited the classroom, tapping Naoi on the shoulder on the way. He seemed reluctant to leave, but he followed her out and shut the door behind them. With his job as a hypnotist complete, he walked off without a word, probably off to beat up more NPCs or build a shrine to his beloved senior. She waited until his footsteps faded away into the distance.

Yuri was never one to show overwhelming sympathy, even if she did lead a bunch of mistreated teenagers around. It wasn't because she didn't care, nor was it because she felt like _she_ had the worst life out of them all, but it was simply because they didn't need it. Not from her, at least. She was their leader, not their mother. They didn't decide to follow her because she was a kind, warm-hearted friend. No. They followed her because she was a cold-cut soldier with a sharp attitude and a passionate motivation.

And there was nothing wrong with that.

But there was something to be said about the funny feeling in her gut that worsened the farther she got from the classroom. She suspected its occupant wouldn't be out for a while, and the funny feeling spread to her heart. This was why sympathy never worked with her; it hurt too much to care for people.

Otonashi wasn't exactly the most cheerful guy around. Compared to the rest of the team, he was calm, levelheaded, and practical. He wasn't an ace fighter or an enthusiastic member, but there was a sort of an alleviating factor about him, almost like an impenetrable umbrella in the center of a tempest of gunfire and insanity.

An umbrella.

She just compared him to an umbrella.

Shaking her head, Yuri made her way to the vending machines in the cafeteria, planning to buy some coffee to ease the twisted feeling in her stomach. What she didn't expect to see was a bunch of Battlefront members milling about on the stairs, unraveling cords and setting up speakers to face the atrium. There were a few of them setting up lights on the top balcony, shouting orders to each other from across the room.

"What are you guys doing?" Yuri asked as she inspected the organized mess.

A few of them looked up and flinched. "Y-Yurippe! We didn't think you'd be out and about," one of them said with a nervous laugh.

"You're setting up a concert? But we don't have any operations planned for tonight," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah, but—"

"It was my idea!"

Yuri turned slightly at the excited voice. "Yui? What is all this?"

"It's a surprise guerrilla concert! Since we haven't had any real operations since Angel was fired as president and that creepy guy with the red eyes and the hat joined up with us, I thought it'd be fun to bring back the band!" She hopped around with elation, punching and kicking the air.

"So you went against my orders…er, or _lack_ of one and decided to set up a performance on your own?"

Yui's smile dropped. Hinata popped out of nowhere and leaned an elbow on top of her pink head.

"See, I told you she'd be mad," he said without a hint of remorse. "And now we have to pack up all this crap we spent hours setting up."

"I didn't say you can't have it," Yuri shrugged, turning to the vending machines.

There was silence as she pressed the button for some Key Coffee. But when she bent to pick up the can, there was an outburst of spluttering from the idiotic duo.

"A-are you serious? You're going to let her—"

"Yes! This is a dream come true! I finally get to plan my own—"

"—is unbelievable! She can't even play and—"

"—or later everyone will recognize me as—"

"All right, you morons! That's enough!" Yuri shouted over the din, clenching her coffee can so hard the aluminum started to dent. "Do whatever you want. But you're responsible for any conflict with the teachers, understand?"

Yui cheered and Hinata groaned. They walked off in a heated argument, the two of the tripping over cords and lighting equipment like a couple of dumb klutzes. Yuri glanced down at the can in her hands, looked back up at the brightly lit products displayed in the vending machine, and bought another Key Coffee.

_Where would he go once he calmed down?_ she thought to herself as she opened her can and took a sip. Definitely not to headquarters. Probably not to his dorm. Maybe…

She rounded the corner and headed for the staircase. Voices floated down from the floor above and she frowned. Wasn't there anywhere she could _think_ in this school?

"Hey, Yurippe," Fujimaki greeted as she reached the top. He was leaning on the wall next to the bathrooms with Takamatsu and Ooyama, and there was a relaxed atmosphere about them. "We were actually just talking about you."

"Oh?" she said shortly, already putting a foot on the next set of stairs.

"Indeed we have," Takamatsu stepped forward, straightening his glasses. "I have something to report concerning our—"

"Later," Yuri cut in, starting up the steps. "Whatever it is, we'll handle it at tomorrow's meeting."

They stared after her, speechless, as she skipped up the stairs and disappeared from view.

The roof was empty when she emerged from the narrow staircase, but it wasn't like she expected anything different. NPCs never came up here, not even Angel. Before taking over the principal's office, she had actually used this rooftop as the meeting place for the early SSS. She recalled how she met Hinata here, how she kicked him off the roof to prove his immortality, and how she eventually formed the Battlefront to fight against god and his cruelty. He was her first recruit in this world, her first friend…

She leaned on the railing with a coffee can in each hand, staring hard at the stone surface of the roof. An image of Otonashi flashed across her eyes, him sitting there, heartbroken and distraught as his memories washed over him. Yuri had meant it when she said he didn't have a good life, but she had to admire his effort towards the end. Even after he had lost the meaning for his life, he had found a new goal and fought long and hard for it. He had pushed on after such a jarring tragedy.

It was more than she could have ever done.

What was she, compared to him? He had been a noble and selfless man, pursuing a new life in medicine with dignity and composure even after god had treated him so unfairly. And here _she_ was, fighting against a power—one she couldn't even confirm the existence of—with guns and violence like some temperamental teenager who whined and pouted when she didn't get what she wanted. It was pathetic, really. And on top of that, she hadn't been able to start her one-sided warfare with the unknown divine power until she had died and confirmed her ability to survive any battle. Though she would never admit it out loud, Otonashi was a much stronger person than she could ever hope to be.

She kept her eyes fixed on the floor as the sun started to sink. There was a lot of noise on the field and she guessed that school was over and the NPCs had come out for their club activities, and even though she could see them if she just turned her head, Yuri never felt more disconnected with them. They weren't human. She was. And she had the ability to feel hurt and remorse and guilt and sadness and anger.

All for one newbie member who she more or less forced into remembering his awful past.

Sympathy?

Of course she felt it. She was human, after all.

Footsteps sounded from across the roof, and Yuri turned slightly to see Otonashi walking towards her with his hands in his pockets, casually watching the NPC activity on the grounds. So her guess was right.

"Have you calmed down?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," he sighed, stopping a few feet away and facing the view. She turned to join him and offered him the unopened coffee.

"It's normal for people's hearts to become unstable after getting their memories back." _And it's too bad I never had a chance to lose mine in the first place_, she wanted to add. But it felt wrong to include her sob story into this conversation. She decided to take the empathy route. "You're not the only one like this."

Otonashi stared at the coffee in his hands. "I'm so weak," he muttered. "I've come to respect how strong _you_ are, Yuri."

"That's not true." She said the words lightly, but she meant them with all her heart. It wasn't true. He was stronger, much, much stronger. She was the one who should be admitting weakness. It didn't matter that she could physically beat him to a pulp; his heart, his compassion was what struck a chord in her, and anything she did would pale in comparison to him. Of course, she still had the title of leader, and she suspected that was something she couldn't lose if she tried. But in her eyes, Otonashi was the leader of the rebellion.

Yet there was no way she would ever admit to that.

Ever.


	8. Painful Farewell

**Time:** after episode 3, before episode 4

**Characters:** Yuri, Hisako

* * *

For reasons unknown, the trap set at the entrance of SSS headquarters never activated when Yuri opened the door, even if she forgot the password. Maybe it had something to do with the knuckleheaded creator of the giant hammer and the unwavering respect and admiration he held for the leader. Maybe he made the trap so that no matter what, it wouldn't hurt a hair on his beloved Yuri's head. But then again, there was the overwhelming fact that Noda was too much of an idiot to build a face-recognizing trap.

Whatever the reason was, it managed to spare Yuri's life as she opened the door without mentioning the password, too lost in her mind to even notice the lack of a flying hammer and instant death. _What do we do now? Do we make a new diversion team? What would they do as a diversion? Can Girldemo play without a singer?_ The thoughts chased each other around in her head, repeating themselves over and over like a broken record. Iwasawa's departure not only meant losing a talented member and a respected musician, but also losing a big part of their operation strategy.

Their most recent infiltration of Angel's domain was a success, but it had left a lot more questions than it had answered. Yuri knew it was only a matter of time before she had to revisit Angel's computer and find out more about that program. But without something to distract Angel, they—especially the boys—would have a hard time sneaking into her dorm. If they started to rely solely on their guns and explosives, the Guild would struggle to keep up with their quota.

_So what the hell do we do now?_

Yuri entered the office, trying and failing to organize her thoughts. The sunset filtered in from the windows, bathing the room with a soft, reddish glow. Even though it was the principal's office, the tinted light made the place look…homey. A sad smile came to Yuri's expression, perhaps a little _too_ sad to be one of nostalgia.

Her eyes snapped to a point behind the principal's desk. There was someone crouching in the shadows under the windows, facing the wall. Certain that the Battlefront members were still downstairs by the gym where she had left them, Yuri reached for her gun and pointed it at the stranger. Just then, the sun broke through the clouds, sending a brilliant beam of sunshine into the room and illuminating the figure.

_I-Iwa…sawa?_

Yuri blinked. No. It wasn't Iwasawa at all. Although she had on a SSS uniform with the sleeves rolled up like Iwasawa, the brown hair tied up in a ponytail was the farthest thing from the late vocalist's. It was the sun. The damn sunlight had made her hair look red for a moment and she had thought...

_No. She isn't here anymore._

"Hisako?" she called, putting away her gun. The guitarist turned slightly, and Yuri saw that she was crouched in front of the acoustic guitar Takamatsu had brought up to the office the day before. Yuri had placed it behind the desk for safekeeping, unsure of what exactly she should do to keep it from harm. There were conflicting feelings surrounding the guitar; she wanted to keep it displayed so they could all remember Iwasawa and her dream, but then again, they were forced to remember her absence every time they looked at the ownerless instrument.

Hisako straightened and shot her a grin.

"'Sup Yuri? That's an awfully grim expression you have on there."

Yuri paused with her mouth half-open, struggling to find a retort without mentioning the dilemma of the singer-less diversion team. She knew Hisako and Iwasawa were close, and Yuri had more than enough experience with permanently losing people dear to her heart. And even though Hisako stood before her with the usual carefree grace and sly smile, there seemed to be something—or some_one_—missing from her side. Though her face didn't show it, she appeared…lonely.

She'd never gotten to know Hisako that well, and with the sparse number of females in her usual unit of the Battlefront, it was admittedly difficult to find a topic to talk about. Though she admired the talent of the band, Yuri never had a real interest in music and didn't know a thing about it. Other than the common goals of the SSS, there really wasn't much the two could connect over.

"There's just…a lot to think about," Yuri said lamely after a long silence.

Hisako nodded. "Ain't that the truth." She clasped her hands behind her head and looked around the empty room. "You're gonna be needing a new singer, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

Well, it wasn't like it was a crime to ask for one. "Yeah," Yuri said. "We can't run any major operations without a solid diversion unit, and it's ideal to stick with a band instead of diverging into another form of entertainment. So a new singer is a must. And…I'm sorry. About Iwasawa," she added as an afterthought.

Hisako's mouth turned down a bit at the corners. Her eyes dropped to the ground before moving to the guitar. "It's weird, isn't it? To be happy for someone because they found a way to move on…and to also be angry with them for leaving so many people behind. I'm genuinely proud of her and all, but from when you look at it from our standpoint, it's almost like she died. Again."

She picked up the guitar and held it like she was going to play, but her fingers remained frozen in place. Yuri watched her in silence, not sure what words of comfort she should offer. Everyone, literally _every_one in the Battlefront looked up to Iwasawa as an idol; the fact that the NPCs look forward to their concerts was more than enough to confirm that. She suspected that even Sekine and Irie, who performed along with her, revered her talent. But Hisako was the only one who treated her like an equal, as a friend. They both understood each other not necessarily through words or actions, but through music—a medium they had the skill to channel their souls through.

Pain was an inevitable factor in breaking such a bond.

"Hey, is it cool if we take this?"

Yuri snapped out of her thoughts to see Hisako questioningly holding up the acoustic.

"Y-yeah, of course," she said. "It rightfully belongs to the band in any case."

"Thanks." She looked down at the instrument in her hands. "It's a shame she didn't take it with her. She'd need it more than we do."

"Maybe she wanted you guys to always remember her," Yuri suggested.

"Funny, she always seemed so modest."

The two shared a quiet laugh that echoed hollowly in the office. It had started to grow darker as the sun sunk lower and lower, casting long, looming shadows behind the furniture.

"I'd better get back to the girls," Hisako said, heading for the door. "Irie was pretty upset over the whole thing, so I thought I'd get this to cheer her up." She gave Yuri a smile. "Thanks, leader. Owe you one."

"Not a problem."

_And back to the problem with the singer_, Yuri thought with a mental sigh as she strode to her laptop. _Can anyone in the Battlefront sing? Playing an instrument is one thing, singing is something else entirely_.

"And about that new singer," Hisako said, popping back into the room. "I think you should put out a word that you're searching for a new one. You know, hold auditions and stuff."

Yuri kept typing without looking up. "Should I even bother? I don't think anyone could compete with Iwasawa, and I'm sure no one would want to try."

"Oh, I don't know," she replied in a singsong voice. "There might be at least _one_ person willing to go for it."

Surprised and skeptical, Yuri glanced up from the screen. "Who?"

Hisako just smiled and slid back out the door. "You'll find out sooner or later," she called over her shoulder.

* * *

A/N: this was actually inspired by the episode 4 opening, the Yui version of _My Soul Your Beats_ which briefly showed Iwasawa's guitar in the SSS headquarters. and yes, it was like a 0.5 second shot, but it gaVE ME SO MUCH FEELS BECAUSE IWASAWA'S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER AND SHE'S GONE BUT THEY KEPT HER GUITAR AND GRAHHHH

so yeah. I thought that was pretty sweet of them so you know, why not dive into that.


	9. Fighting On

**Time:** during episode 7

**Characters:** Yuri, Angel

* * *

Through the process of founding and building up the Battlefront, Yuri never lost sight of her goal. No matter what kind of weirdo joined her side, her intentions have always been clear and simple, and none of them called her out for it. No one questioned her near-obsessive fight with the Almighty, and no one dared to question her drive, even back when her past life had been a mystery. They all respected her perseverance, her intelligence, her leadership...those qualities made it hard to see her as anything other than a girl chasing a dream. A very ambitious and far-fetched dream, but a dream nonetheless.

But though her goal was strong and easy enough to understand, she always had the feeling she wasn't fighting for it in the correct way. In the beginning, Yuri had assumed that Kanade Tachibana, aka student body president, aka Angel, was the closest connection to God because of her authority position and seemingly supernatural powers. Yet as time went on and the Battlefront's operations of infiltrating Angel's power began to roll more and more smoothly, she couldn't help but to reconsider her strategy.

The big kick in the face had come on their second attempt to decipher Angel's computer. The program Takeyama had pulled up proved that the defensive abilities Angel used didn't come from God; she wasn't an angel if she didn't have some kind of divine power.

Angel was no angel.

She was Kanade Tachibana, a human being like them.

And that unleashed a torrential downpour on her merry God-hunting parade. She would be lying if she said that she hadn't been expecting some kind of dead end eventually. But what now? What could the Battlefront do to rebel now that there was no physical authority figure to fight against?

Well, Otonashi had temporarily fixed that problem for the day: run a soup kitchen.

Yuri sniffed, glaring down at the river from the tall bridge that ran over it. Only a few hours ago, the riverbank had been full of activity, everyone fighting to see who could catch the most fish. She had been a part of that activity, pulling up enough fish to pack their fridges and make them dread another fish-centric meal. But the whole operation had been turned into a redundant waste of time when Tachibana fished up the legendary guardian of the river and made everyone's catch look like useless pebbles.

It was hard to associate Tachibana as an equal, much less a friend. She had always been the face of the enemy, and it was hard to see her and not reach for a weapon. By having fun with the former president, Yuri felt as if everything she had fought for was just a joke. If she allowed herself to laugh with Tachibana, if she allowed herself to enjoy spending time with her, she knew somewhere deep down, her pride would be ripped to shreds by the claws of betrayal. As terrible as that sounded, she knew it would take a while for her to get used to Tachibana.

Unlike...well, some people.

Yuri frowned and stared harder at the water far below. She didn't like the feeling that bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. Was it...was it _jealousy_?

Oh, it most certainly was. And it ate at her like a disease.

She had confidence in her people skills. Of course, she _did_ have a forawrd attitude a lot of the members considered forceful. But she had made vast improvements from the early days of the SSS, back when she used to kick Hinata off the roof on a daily basis and intimidate Ooyama to the point of tears. She wasn't one to brag, but she could say with some amount of confidence that she had become an excellent recruiter.

Otonashi was a difficult but not impossible obstacle that she had managed to handle. Sure, he had resisted her at first, deeming her crazy, and asked to be left alone so he could be obliterated without a fight. Even when he initially joined up, Yuri knew that he was just using them as a shield from Angel until he regained his memories. But he had eventually warmed up to them, and Yuri was glad he decided to stay even after his amnesia was hypnotically lifted. Now he was as much a member as everyone else, which was a relief since he seemed much more practical than the others.

It was still undeniable that it had taken him considerably less time to warm up to Tachibana, even when she was techincally a potential threat. He'd been the first to befriend her, to see her as something more than a disciplinary officer, to invite her to a Battlefront operation...

Not only was she jealous because he had befriended Tachibana so quickly, but there was also the fact that he seemed much more spirited around her. He looked _happy_ with her. It wasn't like Yuri wanted to be in her place. No, she was just fine being Yuri, the stubborn leader with the sharp knife work and an even sharper tongue. But there were days, like this one, when she wished she could have unlimited fun and feel some form of regret.

She sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. The sun had set a while ago, and the last traces of the fading sunlight was being overridden by the blackness of night. She figured that the soup kitchen ordeal would be winding down soon, and decided to head back before they notice her absence.

The last thing she expected to see when she turned around was Tachibana, standing silently about ten feet away. They stared at each other for a while, Yuri with an expression of shock and Tachibana with no expression at all. Yuri broke the silence first.

"What are _you_ doing _here_? Why aren't you with Otonashi and the others?"

Tachibana smiled creepily in response. With a muttered word and a flash of light, she activated her Hand Sonic.

"What d'you think you're doing?" Yuri exclaimed, drawing her gun.

"Students are not permitted here without supervision," she replied without emotion. "Anyone caught outside the school boundaries will be punished."

"'Punished'? What...What are you talking about? You're not the student body president anymore!" Yuri leveled her weapon as she came closer and closer. _This isn't right. She was perfectly normal an hour ago, setting up the cooking station on the field._

Tachibana suddenly charged, and Yuri reacted without hesitation, firing two rapid shots at her legs. The bullets were easily deflected by the blade and ricocheted dangerously close to Yuri's head. She tried to get around to Tachibana's blind side, but the little girl was no amateur. They dodged and weaved under each other's weapons until Yuri's gun flew out of her hand, cut cleanly in two.

"_Guard Skill: Delay_," Tachibana muttered as Yuri whipped out her knife. The disorienting ability was a nuisance to deal with, but Yuri had trained herself to focus in on the physical body instead of the afterimage. Her knife stabbed into empty air but she turned to dodge under the surprise attack aimed at her back.

_Damnit, she's strong. Almost..._too_ strong. What the hell, it's like she turned back into Angel, but worse. _Yuri parried a fierce slash to her chest, stumbling slightly from the force of the blow. Tachibana kept pressing forward, forcing Yuri back away from the school. _I thought she wanted me to go back to the school. What's with her? She's stronger, faster, and more...violent. It's like she's Angel's evil twin..._

Yuri froze.

Angel's evil twin.

Images flashed before her eyes. The computer. The program. A list of Angel's defensive abilities. The listed ability they haven't seen.

_Harmonics_...

Everything clicked into place and Yuri snapped out of her thoughts to find Tachibana...no, _Angel_ inside her reach, thrusting the blade forward. As Yuri dodged late to the side, she finally saw the significant difference between this Angel and the old one. Her eyes were red. Blood red. The old Angel's were a soft amber.

"AH!" Red-hot pain flared into existence high on her arm. Angel pulled back the bloody blade and prepared to deliver a deathblow. In a whirl of panic, Yuri jumped backwards to avoid the surefire death and stumbled over her own two feet to land hard on her back. She rolled out of the way of Angel's frightening dropkick and got to her feet just in time to block a second deathblow to the gut. She caught Angel's extended arm and twisted violently to lock it in place. But Angel was too fast. She threw out an elbow, forcing Yuri to duck, and swung her blade an inch away from her nose. Then she jumped, snapped out her foot, and kicked Yuri just above the knee, forcing her to release the lock and fall to the ground.

Yuri sucked in a breath through her teeth and tried not to scream. Her leg had gone entirely numb from the kick, but she knew the pain would slowly build up to an unbearable throb. Her arm stung like crazy, and she could feel the blood trickling down to her wrist. This was bad. She was on the ground, beaten down by an evil clone, and she had little to no chance of winning. Being immortal, Yuri didn't exactly fear death, but the human nature of survival was still etched deep in her soul. She didn't want to die.

Angel stood over her with a remote expression. Yuri felt her stomach flip a couple of times. This Angel wasn't fighting her because she had broken the rules; she was fighting her because she _wanted_ to. She was enjoying the pain she inflicted, which explained why she stood in between Yuri and the school. She was planning to keep her here until she was dead.

"Like hell," Yuri spat, reaching for her grenade. She pulled the pin and chucked it at Angel's feet before racing past her towards the school. The explosion came quicker than she expected, and she felt the searing heat from blast hit her back. She staggered but kept running, following the lights that led to the school while rubbernecking constantly. When she was a good distance from the bridge with no sign of Angel, Yuri slowed her pace. Her leg was on fire now, and her running turned into limping. She clutched her bleeding arm and grit her teeth at the pain. Her uniform was dirty and ripped from her time on the ground.

She couldn't bear to imagine everyone's faces when she showed up like this.

At first Yuri debated sneaking past them to the infirmary to patch herself up. But then she thought of Angel showing up and cornering her again. Alone. Without any help. As much as it hurt her pride, she needed to surround herself with armed allies for protection.

She limped onto the field and saw the group cleaning up by the steps on the opposite side. Tachibana was there, acting civil and absolutely ordinary.

"—probably watching us from somewhere up high." That was Fujimaki's voice. "She's not the type to help out with volunteer work. Now get your butt in gear!" he said to Noda, who was sitting around doing nothing.

At that point Yuri couldn't take another step. Her leg gave out and she fell gracelessly to the ground, attracting everyone's attention. That wasn't exactly the way she had planned her entry, but it was hard to care at that point.

"Yurippe!"

Footsteps raced towards her. She felt someone lift her up from the ground, and she held her arm pathetically with a grimace.

"Yurippe! Who did this to you?" It was Noda. Of course. Protective of her as always. She opened her eyes and found them all standing over her, wearing mixed expressions of anger and concern. Otonashi held her up, eyes full of worry.

"Angel did," she hissed.

Otonashi's eyes widened. "Angel?" As she expected, he turned to look at Tachibana, who was standing innocently with a stack of dirty dishes. _No, you idiot_, she wanted to say. _Not that Angel. The evil clone that she unintentionally activated_. He turned back to Yuri. "Wait, but Kanade's been with _me_ the whole time!"

_Kanade? Oh, so now you two are on a first-name basis?_

Yuri fixed him in an angry gaze as her jealously slowly transformed into annoyance. _Why do you have to defend her so desperately? Why are you even friends with someone so reserved and passive? Why?_

_Why do I even care?_

A movement caught her eye and she bared her teeth. It was Angel, the evil one, standing high above them on the roof like some guardian avenger. The moon shined brightly behind her, enveloping her face in shadow and enhancing the red flash of her eyes. Otonashi followed her gaze and gasped at the sight, clearly astonished to find a duplicate of his new friend. His voice was full of disbelief and fear.

"Angel..."


	10. Cold Nights

**Time:** after episode 8, before episode 10

**Characters:** Yuri, Yusa, various SSS members

* * *

Nighttime had a tendency to creep up on the occupied mind. Yuri was sure it was noon five minutes ago, but when she looked up from the laptop, she found herself in a pitch-black room lit only by the glowing screen in front of her. With a deep sigh, she took off her glasses and rubbed tiredly at her eyes.

Today had been a rare off day for the SSS members, and Yuri had given them a free reign on the campus. With Angel unconscious in the infirmary and no one else there to take up her role, there wasn't much the Battlefront could do. Yuri herself had stayed in the headquarters all day, trying to figure out how they would continue to wreak havoc in this world. It would admittedly be difficult to rebel against divine power without a physical spokesperson for said power.

The walkie-talkie next to the laptop suddenly bursts to life, startling her out of her stupor.

"Yurippe?" A voice issued out of the radio.

Yuri picked it up and pressed a button. "Yuri here."

"It seems like another cold night," came Yusa's voice, calm and emotionless as always. Yuri turned, rolled her chair up to the window, and touched the glass with her fingertips. It was indeed cold. "Your orders?"

She opened the window and stuck her head outside, feeling the chilly air. As far as Yuri knew, there were no seasons in the world of the afterlife. She was sure she had spent at least six months in this world, and she had yet to see a sign of snow or feel the agony of a heat wave. But every now and then, there was a temperature shift as if God wanted to mix up the climate to keep things interesting. Granted, it was never a monumental change that would unpredictably affect their operations, but it happened often enough to keep them guessing.

It honestly pissed Yuri off enough for her to start rebelling against the _weather_.

"All right," she said into the radio as she put on a light jacket. "It's time for Operation Tuck'em In. I'll meet you at the front in ten with the necessary supplies."

* * *

Operation Tuck'em In was something Yuri had come up with months ago when she had realized a slight flaw in the whole "fight the system" routine she ran; the members sometimes refused to sleep in their dorms. And since it counted as breaking the school code, Yuri encouraged it without hesitation, but on chilly nights like tonight, she didn't feel comfortable leaving them out to freeze. Of course, they wouldn't get sick or die from hypothermia, but it still sucked to sleep in the cold.

Whether it was a tradition or not, _none_ of the Battlefront members would sleep in their beds after enjoying their rare day off. Yuri guessed it was because they had spent the whole day breaking rules and whatnot, so for morons like them, it was hard to turn off the anarchy when going to sleep. Whatever it was, Operation Tuck'em In became a chore when it fell on a cold night after a day off.

Yuri stepped out into the cool air and found Yusa waiting for her by the steps. Both of them had a pile of folded blankets clutched in their arms.

"Ready?" Yuri asked, to which Yusa nodded. They headed towards the closest school building, eyes peeled for slumped forms and ears open for snores. Even before they got to the doors, they had found no less than five members passed out on the floor. As they covered the unconscious members with blankets, Yuri noticed the serene (yet still blank) expression on Yusa's face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as they moved on.

"I'm just a little surprised," Yusa replied.

"Why?"

"You never pass up the chance to say, 'Operation, start!' whenever you assign the Not-Yet-Dead Battlefront with an operation. I thought for sure you would scream it back there."

Yuri wasn't sure if she should splutter with indignity or flush with embarrassment. And of course, she had to do both. "W-w-what…no! Are y-you making fun of me?" she stuttered, throwing a blanket on a member's face without even unfolding it.

"I was merely making an observation," said Yusa without a change in her tone. She bent down to fix the blanket Yuri had chucked. "I'm not sure why you're taking it so personally, but I meant no offense."

Flustered by her stammered outburst and unsure of what to say, Yuri made a sound in the back of her throat and moved on into the cafeteria, Yusa following close behind. They found Matsushita the Fifth and TK asleep on the dining tables, stacks of empty and not-so-empty plates piled high next to them. Takamatsu lay some distance away, shirtless and snoring.

"Pigs," Yuri commented, rolling her eyes. She covered them nonetheless, wrapping the blankets around their shoulders. Yusa pointed at the steps leading to the upper levels, where Ooyama and Fujimaki lay slumped on the railing. Yuri really couldn't help but to wonder what the hell these idiots were doing when they were awake; that would answer her question of why there was a member hanging from the top balcony railing like a dead body.

"They threw a wild party and urged the NPCs to cut class," Yusa answered Yuri's unasked question. "For the record, a good number of them showed up when Girldemo made an appearance."

"And where's the band now?"

"Probably in their practice room."

"The gym is on the way. Let's stop by there too," Yuri said.

As usual, Shiina was hidden away in the depths of the gym storage room. She was, however, very much awake. And very much surrounded by wind-up toy dogs, barking their mechanical barks and inching their way across the floor.

"Hey, Shiina," Yuri called.

She turned slowly and regarded Yuri with sharp eyes.

"Aren't you cold?"

She shook her head.

"Well, here's a blanket anyway," Yuri said with a smile.

She took the blanket wordlessly and nodded in thanks before turning back to the toys.

Yusa led the way back out of the gymnasium. Both of them noticed the dwindling amount of blankets in their arms.

"How many more are there?" Yuri groaned, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.

"Only a few," Yusa assured. "And the Girldemo members."

"Is it really that hard for them to—yah!"

Yuri yelled out with surprise as her foot caught on something solid. She stumbled like a dork and almost slammed into a streetlight before catching herself.

"Noda, you moron!" She screamed, kicking the halberd she had tripped over out of his hands. It clattered away but its owner didn't so much as twitch. "Why can't these morons stay in bed?!"

"Because you encourage them to stay out," Yusa said reasonably.

"That. Was. A rhetorical. Question," Yuri seethed, whirling to face her. "I can't deal wi—wait, is that…a light up there?" she pointed, melting out of her anger.

It was. There was a small light coming from the library building, not bright enough to be anything other than a computer screen. They broke in and headed towards the source, a private computer room at the very corner of the building. Yuri rapped her knuckles on the door and poked her head in to find Takeyama typing away on his laptop.

"What're you doing here?"

"Just updating some files into my laptop," he replied. "The school computers have an interesting hard drive that doesn't naturally correspond with the—"

"Do you want a blanket, Takeyama?" Yuri interrupted, holding one up for him to see.

He straightened his glasses. "No, thank y—"

"Good."

"And please, call me Chr—"

Yuri slammed the door. "All right, onto the band."

Girldemo's practice classroom was in building A, a far distance from the faculty building. Although Yuri wanted to return to the warm comfort of the cozy office, she would die before finishing the whole operation. She marched on, her operator following silently behind her.

"Here," Yusa said finally. Yuri peered into the classroom through the window and found the room lit with a dim desk lamp. They entered and looked around. Irie and Sekine were leaning against the wall, fast asleep. Sekine had her head on Irei's shoulder and was mumbling something in her dream. Hisako was curled up on top of the desks, back to them. Only Yui was awake, sitting by the light of the desk lamp and writing furiously on a sheet of paper.

"New song?" Yuri asked. The replacement vocalist nodded sluggishly, clearly in severe need of sleep.

"Hisako…wrote the…melody and I-I-I'm…supposed to write…words," she mumbled, punctuated by a yawn. "But so…tired."

"It would seem Hinata was tired also," Yusa said, pointing to a figure on the floor. Yuri flinched back with surprise, noticing him sprawled facedown on the ground like a murder victim.

"He came in and…said something stupid…?" Yui half-asked, scribbling down more words. "…And then he got me mad and I…I think I knocked him out."

"Well, at least we found him," Yuri shrugged, covering him from head to toe like a funeral shroud. She glanced at the pink-haired girl nodding off in her seat. "Maybe you should take a break," she suggested, turning the light off and putting a blanket around her shoulders. Yui didn't waste a second complaining. She pitched forward onto the desk and started snoring like a pig.

The other members were good to go. Yusa held up a thumbs-up and they exited the classroom, shutting the door quietly behind them.

"It seems like Otonashi is the last one," she reported. "And we're all out of blankets."

"Figures," Yuri sighed, "We're always _one_ short."

"I suppose that means you never learn from your mistakes, Yurippe."

"You pickin' a fight with me?" she growled.

"Quite the opposite."

The infirmary. He wouldn't be anywhere else.

"I'll find him," Yuri said. "You go on and get some sleep. Preferably in your dorm."

"Sounds good. Good night, Yurippe."

"Good night…"

The infirmary was even farther from the faculty building than the school building A was, which meant more walking in the chilly night. Yuri huffed out a breath that fogged up in the air. _Stupid Otonashi_._ Stupid Angel_. _Stupid infirmary_. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

She stormed into the building and all but kicked the door to the infirmary down. Sure enough, Otonashi was there, sleeping soundly in a fold-up chair with his head on Angel—no—_Tachibana_'s chest. They both looked so peaceful together, with the soft light of the moon illuminating their faces and making them look younger.

It had been two days since that sacrificial incident down in the Guild. Tachibana still hadn't woken, and Otonashi hadn't left her side. Yuri didn't know when…or _if_ the girl would wake up, or if she would be the same, innocent girl as before. It hurt that she was essentially the one to cause this kind of fate to a seemingly helpless girl, but Yuri knew it had been the right actions as leader, as Otonashi had said.

That didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

She shrugged out of her jacket and draped it over his shoulders as a substitute for a blanket. Oh, sure, there were tons of blankets on the unoccupied beds. But somehow, it felt right to lend him her jacket, just as he had done for her some time ago.

"Good night, Mr. Not-So-Amnesia," she whispered, patting his head.

The coldness of the night made her shiver violently when she stepped back outside, but she felt herself smile as she ran back to headquarters.

* * *

A/N: now as lame as it is, this idea came from a fanart that I cannot find the source for (which is slowly killing me) but it's honestly the cutest picture ever so I just wanted to write something for it.

oh, and a special shoutout to Nihlius, whose reviews are doing a tremendous job of keeping me motivated with continuing these random snippets. so kudos to you.


	11. Beat

**Time:** during episode 6

**Characters:** Yuri, Otonashi, Naoi

* * *

She lost.

There was no point in sugarcoating it. She was down. She was beat. She couldn't even stand.

And the same went for her entire platoon.

The sound of blazing gunfire and raw hysteria were still fresh in her ears, and not even the sound of the pouring rain could erase it from her mind. The field was eerily quiet. Yuri gathered up the meager strength left in her body and raised her head as high as she could. What she saw made her stomach turn.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

She should be used to it by now, what with the nightly operations they charged through with Angel's blades slicing them up like meat for butchering. But the sheer amount of blood that covered the rain-soaked field was…_wrong_. That much blood should never be dumped in one place. The downpour did nothing to wash away the disgusting pool of red.

And lying in that bloody lake — some of them motionless — were her teammates, her Battlefront, her friends. Amidst the ringing of her ears, Yuri picked up the faint sound of pained groans and muttered cursing. Those who were still able to move were fighting to stand.

Several NPCs had their guns trained on those struggling for footing. NPCs. With guns. As she watched, one of them fired at a Battlefront member who managed to push himself up to a crouch. She flinched at the sound of the gunshot, lying low as if the bullet would fly by her head. She and her teammates had always been the ones firing. She had never actually been shot at with so many guns…

Much less by NPCs.

Yuri glared up at them through heated eyes. These students were supposed to be model high schoolers. They never acted out, never strayed from the norm, never stepped out of their rut. So when the hell did they become professional gunslingers? Why are they so eager to protect the student council president?

Exactly how much control did he have over the NPCs?

A sharp pain rang through her ears and she clutched at her head. She could feel herself slipping out of consciousness, and she did nothing to stop it.

She lost, anyway.

There was nothing left for her to do.

"Hinata!"

Somewhere in her foggy mind, a scream rang out. She had no energy left to pick up her head, but she heard splashing footsteps skipping down the stairs before landing in a stumble. Another set of footsteps, this one much smaller and calmer, followed the first. They rushed past her, causing small ripples that reached her lifeless fingertips.

That had to be Otonashi. Who else would run to Hinata first? Following him must be Angel.

"Are you okay? Hinata!"

Yuri heard a groan and a muttered reply from Hinata.

"This isn't the time to joke around!" Otonashi responded with exasperation. It was a miracle he wasn't being pelted by bullets, but Yuri guessed the reason. And sure enough, she heard the unmistakable sniff of the student council president, the instigator of this bloodshed: Naoi Ayato.

"How did you get out of detention?" he sneered. Angel's answer was drowned out by the rain, and so was Naoi's heated retort. Yuri strained her ears to pick up on the conversation, but she couldn't even hear Otonashi's angry reply. There was a brief flash of light, and she guessed that Angel had activated her Hand Sonic.

Did that mean she was on their side? Would she fight against the NPCs?

Would they fight back?

"Are you going to defy me? I'm god." Naoi's voice carried clearly throughout the field. "I. Am. God," he repeated with defiance. Yuri grit her teeth. _Not this speech again_.

Delusional. That was the only word she could think of to define Naoi Ayato. Completely and undeniably delusional. Him? God? As if. She could never accept him as her ultimate enemy. Punching him in the face would do nothing to relieve the massive burden on her shoulders, though it might gain her a certain amount of satisfaction. His ideas of this world, how it works, and who makes it work was completely off from what it really was.

Or was it Yuri that was wrong?

No. She shook the thought off. She wasn't wrong. Naoi was crazy, and she was the sane one.

"Your souls carry the right to become god, yet you suffer from memories of your previous lives," he was continuing. Yuri realized his voice was coming closer and closer to where she lay, approaching her at a casual pace.

"I've become god," he said with smug resignation. "As such, I should put you to rest."

The footsteps stopped right before her. She heard his shoe grinding on her discarded gun.

"Yuri!" Otonashi warned. But it wasn't like she could cut loose and run away. There was nothing she could do. A hand grabbed her hair without warning and yanked upwards with enough force to make her cry out in pain. No strength came to her limbs and her body was worn down so much she couldn't so much as lift a finger. She flopped limply into Naoi's arms, his face disgustingly close to hers. "What more are you going to put her through?!" With an angry shout, Otonashi sprinted towards the pair. But stopped short at the gunpoint of the NPCs.

Yuri couldn't exactly recall what happened next. She remembered hearing more of Naoi's delusions. Something about Iwasawa. Something about hypnotism.

Something about a wonderful dream.

Her siblings. Their coffins. Their smiles. Their forgiveness.

"_Don't!_"

The next thing she knew, she was being dropped to the ground. She heard the sound of a meaty punch. Then a splash.

"Don't obliterate her with those false memories!" Otonashi shouted. "Don't do it!"

Yuri watched with disbelief as he grabbed Naoi by the collar of his shirt. "The lives all of us lived were real! There's nothing false about the lives we endured! Everything was real, everyone lived their fullest!" he screamed. She had never seen him so angry, so desperate to prove a point.

It hit her, then, just how different Otonashi was from her. Yuri had considered them to be on an even level, rational enough to think things through but irrational enough to throw those thoughts away as a sacrifice. But she could never do what Otonashi was doing. He wasn't fighting, nor was he going for a gun. He was talking it out like a human being, a friend. If she were in his shoes, there would have been a hell of a lot more gunfire.

"Wasn't your life the real deal too?" he demanded.

Naoi's expression changed at the question. But then Otonashi did something Yuri would never forget: he hugged Naoi like an older brother would to his sibling.

_What the..._

"What would you know about it?" Naoi snarled with a twisted expression.

Otonashi didn't miss a beat. "I know. I know because you're here," he said.

That was it. Humanity. Otonashi was able to see the humanity in everyone and everything; Yuri was far from achieving that skill. After all this bloodshed, this massacre of the SSS, after seeing Hinata covered in blood, Otonashi still saw Naoi as a human being. In his eyes, this hypnotist mass-murderer was a misunderstood child with a troubled past to compete with the Battlefront's. And what had she done? Pinned him as a delusional psychopath and tried to lead an army of equally misunderstood high schoolers against an enemy they couldn't shoot.

She had lost. Not to Naoi.

But to Otonashi.

* * *

A/N: yeah I was going to abandon this but your reviews made me reconsider. I apologize if it seems rushed/has multiple typos, but hey I literally typed this up in like thirty minutes because I'm going away for a couple of days.


	12. Reprise

A/N: here's an ender to end all things

* * *

It started with the crash in the kitchen.

They were all huddled on the floor of the living room, the younger three playing a rowdy game of cards while the oldest sat with a book in hand, absently watching over them. He was winning by far, holding the least amount of cards whereas his sisters struggled to cut down the hefty pile in their hands. They would occasionally accuse each other of cheating and break out in a fight with him in the middle, and then his oldest sister would yell at the over the top of her book and they would sullenly drop the fight. Only two more cards and he would win.

Everyone froze at the sound of shattering glass and looked at each other with wide eyes.

"What was that?" one of the younger girls asks.

His oldest sister stands. "I don't know. Maybe the cat knocked some—"

Her words end in a gasp. Four burly men shamble into the living room, dressed in tight-fitting black clothing and thick ski masks, hardly normal clothing choices for mid-July. All of them tense slightly at the sight of the kids, but relax when they see the lack of a threat.

"You said it was clear," one of then grunted at another.

"I saw the car leave. I didn't think they'd leave the kids behind," he shrugs. "Besides, what's the problem? They're just kids."

The tallest and biggest of the men stepped forward. There was a gun on his belt, and all the children knew it wasn't anything like the toy guns they played with inside the house.

"Now listen up, kids," the man said in a tone that marked him as the leader. "We just here to pick up some goods, okay? We'll be in and out without hurting a fly if you all keep quiet and stay in that corner. That sound good?"

The men pushed them all into a corner before the kids could reply. The oldest sister stood in front of her siblings, shielding them with determination as the men began to ransack the house for valuables. He and his sisters huddled together, shaken with fear. He pulled on his oldest sister's shirt.

"Yuri, what's happening?"

She didn't reply. Her face was set in a fierce but shaky frown, one that was prepared to do anything to save her family but was too young to brush aside the panic. He believed in Yuri. She was his big sister and she would do anything to protect him. She could beat these guys up like she beat up that bully that was bothering his other sister. Yuri was strong.

The men went to every room in the house. He heard them rummaging upstairs in the bedrooms, downstairs in the basement, even in the stuffy closets. Everything in the house was new and spotless, but they were not interested in items.

They wanted money.

And they couldn't find a cent.

Eventually their search began to grow violent. They started breaking everything they saw, including the TV, the glass cabinet, and the windows. They knocked down bookshelves, cut open sofas, and broke table legs, shouting all the while. Their frustration was almost tangible.

"Don't worry," Yuri told him in a trembling whisper. "The alarm went off the moment they broke that kitchen window, so the police are on their way."

He wanted to believe her, but it was hard to trust her reassuring smile when her eyes were full of uncertainty and worry. She flinched as one of the robbers threw something over their heads, which shattered against the wall above them.

"I don't believe this!" he roared, addressing the other men who were returning empty-handed. "In this whole damn mansion there's nothing worth taking. Not even some damn jewelry!"

The heated glares turned to the children, and Yuri crouched defensively in front of her siblings. With a nasty smirk and a condescending chuckle, the leader yanked her to her feet and pulled her aside. He bent down to her eyelevel and shoved his face up to hers.

"You're the oldest. Don't you know where your parents keep important things?" There was a mocking leer on his face. "Things your parents told you to always take care of real good," he elaborated, "Things to give robbers to make them leave. They told you about stuff like that, right?"

She shook her head desperately. "I don't know! I don't know what that is!"

He didn't buy it. "Now go look for it. If I don't like what you show me, I'm afraid I have to take your siblings from you one by one. One dies every ten minutes unless you bring me something." He pulled out the gun from his belt. "Get moving."

* * *

She was looking all over the house. He could hear her running frantically up and down the stairs, revisiting rooms more than once out of panicked confusion, knocking things over and emptying various containers, searching for something, _any_thing. His sisters huddled close to him, either seeking or giving comfort.

"This is taking too long," one of the men grunted.

"You got any better ideas?" the leader snapped back. "We couldn't find anything worth a damn. If anyone knows where the dough is, it'd be the kid."

"Doesn't sound like she's finding anything," another man mused.

"Maybe she thinks we're bluffing," the fourth man added.

"Heh." The leader thumbed back the hammer and pointed it towards the kids. "She'll see."

Just then, there was a deafening shatter of something fragile breaking on the floor. Everybody in the room jumped slightly at the crash, startled out of their conversation. There was a short cry of pain, followed shortly by a poorly restrained cry of anguish.

Then silence.

"Broke a vase," the man closes to the door observed, peering down the hallway. "Giant thing too, from the amount of shards around her."

"Time's up," the leader announced quietly. The other men fell silent but did not look too upset. "First payment's due."

The gun went off.

His sister's hand went limp. His other sister screamed a wild shriek that rang in his ears. He didn't dare turn his head to see what happened, but kept his eyes fixed on a frayed spot on the carpet.

_Just don't look. Don't look, because nothing happened. She's just screaming because the gun went off. No one's hurt. He's such a bad shooter he missed her completely. There's no way she's…_

He heard another scream mingling with the one next to his ear, and he took his eyes off the carpet long enough to see Yuri standing in the doorway, face contorted in a wild scream. Her fingers were covered in blood, as if she had dip-dyed her hand in a vat of ketchup. She charged at the nearest man with fists swinging ferociously, but he held her back easily. The leader strode up and grabbed her by the front of her shirt.

"Tick-tock, little girl. I wouldn't waste my time if I were you." He pointed the gun over his shoulder in the direction of the remaining siblings.

Yuri twisted out of the man's grip, and blinking back tears, raced off once more in search of unknown valuables. It was an impossible treasure hunt. By now the men knew that she had no knowledge of a safe or hidden wealth. If she couldn't find a stack of money by now, it was evident that she never would.

But the leader was not fond of giving up.

Ten minutes later, the second shot went off.

He didn't turn; his eyes remained fixed on the carpet, refusing to accept the reality of the lifeless bodies on either side of him.

_They're just playing dead. Yeah, that's it. They're playing dead so the robbers won't hurt them. I should do them same, huh?_

It was his turn next. He knew because the gun was now pointed at him, the short barrel of the pistol glaring down, cold and merciless.

"The best for last," the leader grinned. "Come on, little girl. Or you'll lose the last one!" He leaned down close and bared his yellow teeth. "And what a waste it would be."

He wanted to kick the leader in the shins. He wanted to beat up all of these robbers and chase them out of his house. He wanted to show them not to mess with his family.

But he couldn't. He wasn't brave enough.

Not like Yuri.

The police couldn't be far away. He thought he heard sirens in the distance. It was only a matter of time until they arrived and took these bad people out of the house. It was okay if he couldn't save the day, because the police would take care of them. The police and Yuri. She could deal with these robbers without breaking a sweat if she didn't have to worry about her family.

_She'll protect me._

He was her favorite. She would do anything to save him.

_She'll protect me._

"Time's up."

The hammer clicked.

_She'll protect me._

_She'll prote—_

* * *

A/N: I think an apology is in order...for ending this series in such a horrific way. Sure, I wanted to end these snippets off with a heartwarming story, but in all honesty, I'm not as big a fan of Angel Beats as I used to be, and the only idea I had left was this one, which I had been dying to write since the beginning. So...yeah, sorry. Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed! You guys were a big part of my motivation!

Edit: Oh, and the reason this chapter is called Reprise...other than the fact that I didn't know how to say "ending" in terms of Overture and Interlude (even though I didn't have an Overture shhh), I thought that maybe Yuri's dream back in the first chapter is what's happening in this chapter? I dunno, man. Imagination. Use it.


End file.
